The conductor of the Union Pacific train, headed north, sounded the horn several times but the man did not get off the tracks, Juarez said.

Police said at the scene that they believed the pedestrian was wearing headphones. When the conductor realized the man was not getting out of the way of the oncoming train, he initiated an emergency stop, but the train did not stop quickly enough to avoid hitting the man.

Boy carted off in ambulance after S.A. shooting as relatives scream in anguishSan Antonio Express-News

Officials from North East Independent School District, including an administrator from MacArthur High School, were called to the scene to help identify the body. They could not make a positive identification, and it still remains unclear whether the victim was a student, said school district spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor.

A backpack was found with the victim, but nothing in it identified him, police said.

Neighbors heard the train horn blaring, and Aurora Guerra, who lives in the 900 block of Everest Street, went outside when she saw a firetruck pull in front of a neighbor's house.

Guerra has lived in her house near the tracks for 42 years, but no one has ever been hit nearby, she said through tears.

“I've never, ever, ever heard the train like that,” Guerra said.

The five-car train was transporting different types of freight, according to Elizabeth Hutchison, spokeswoman for Union Pacific.

The company will offer peer support to the train crew, Hutchison wrote in an email.

The dangers of wearing headphones near train tracks were highlighted last month in the San Francisco area, where an 18-year-old high school senior was killed when she was hit by an Amtrak train as she wore headphones while arguing with her father on a cellphone.